Pension Lawsuit Puts Court Choice Test Back Before High Court

Theodore Rapp lives and works in California, but the legal fight to recoup his pension benefits is playing out in a courtroom across the country in Connecticut.

The lawsuit, originally filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, was moved to the District of Connecticut because the company that acquired Rapp’s former employer has a provision in its pension plan that only allows disputes to be litigated in the federal court in Hartford, said Robert McKennon, Rapp’s Newport Beach, Calif.-based attorney.

These forum selection provisions—tucked into employee benefits plans—limit where plan participants can file a ...